"Lotte" wrote in message
...
"Arjun Ray" wrote in message
...
In , "Lotte"
wrote:
I would never leave a trap unmonitored overnight. What if the cat
thrashes and hurts itself? (I've seen this happen.) What if it rains?
(Ditto.) What if some clown stumbles on the trap and lets the cat go?
(Ditto.) What if someone just walks off with the trap? (Ditto.)

Well, it's not really umonitored, because I set it right below my bedroom
window (feral highway) and can hear it when it trips. If I hear it trip,
I'll get up and go throw a blanket over it. That usually settles down the
thrashers and keeps the cat and trap protected until morning. Thrashers
are, unfortunately, just as likely to hurt themselves in carriers as in
the
trap, at least the one I use (hav-a-hart knock-off). If I get a major
thrasher, I'll usually turn him/her loose if they don't settle down under
the blanket. Since they're right under my window, I can hear if they're
in
distress.

I did try transferring cats when I first started doing TNR and it seemed
to
just stress the cats more. The way I do it now, they never even see me
except for the few seconds when I throw the blanket over them -- I take
the
covered trap, cat and all, to the clinic early in the morning. I don't
worry about my trap walking off because I know all my neighbors, and if
any
strangers came into my yard to get it (highly unlikely because it can't be
seen from the street), the dogs next door would go ape-****.

In my case, they also spend the night in the trap, but the trap is at
home. For recovery, I have dog crates and a playpen as needed, and for
the trip to the HS and for release I use transfer cages (much less
unwieldy than traps.)

I'm not really sure what you're saying here -- mine spend the night in the
trap, and the trap is at home... that's where I do my trapping. Maybe I
missed your point? Do you trap away from your own home? I have two
crates
I use for recovery, a wire-type one for more sedate cats, and a plastic
one
for the really wild ones -- it's more enclosed so the nervous cats feel
more
secure in that one.

I think my situation isn't a typical TNR scenario -- I only trap cats in
my
own neighborhood (tho I'd be glad to help anyone elsewhere who wanted to
trap), and we have a 'hoarder' down the street that feeds the 'hood strays
but is absolutely clueless about neutering -- I'm sort of 'working under
the
radar,' so to speak. I'm sure I've caught and neutered people's pet cats,
because people here let them wander around at will, without collars on.
Incredibly stupid.

Keep up the good work.

LV



Any idea why some cats flip out in the trap and others just seem to resign
themselves to their lot in life?


W